DAMN DICE – The Great Unknown (2015)
British, London based hard rockers DAMN DICE certainly have had their work cut out for them over the last few months. Not only did they land themselves a slot at the infamous Camden Rocks Festival but they have also been busy preparing for the release of their first full length album “The Great Unknown“, an album ripe with extremely potent and powerful guitar riffs, that will have fans of the genre smashing their fist and heads for weeks to come.
“The Great Unknown” is an album full of classic Eighties melodic hard rock spiced with metal riffs like it is 1989 again.
From the first few seconds of opener ‘Power’, it is clear to the listener that this is going to be a well-polished and finely tuned production. The transition from the fluctuating initial instrumentation into the drop is executed expertly, and the double kick pedal begs the full focus of the listener to invest themselves fully into the music.
Damn Dice follows with the crunchy ‘What Now?’, and then ‘Drive’ adds more melody with some Sunset Strip vice sleazy.
After these 3 tracks you can say Damn Dice do not sound like anyone out there — they have their own sound and style. They mix melody with controlled heaviness into a potent package.
Good examples of that would be ‘Bang Your Head’, ‘Down’, and ‘Rock (Like You Mean It)’. Even so, the rock groove infects every song. Also, the melodic hard side is more focused on tracks such as ‘Take The Fight’, ‘What Now’ and ‘Caught In The Ride’, all catchy tunes which blur those lines.
At the midpoint midtempo ‘Words’ offers a welcome diversity from the mayhem and shows us this is a band who know how to write a variety of guitar lead tracks properly, showing restraint and allowing space in the mix to complement each individual band member, freeing the numerous impressive solos on the record to really shine through.
Finally, Damn Dice area also capable to write a very nice ballad with ‘Home’. Well, it’s not entirely a full ballad. At the start it begins with some classic vocal harmonies over acoustic guitar, even some snapping fingers, reminding somewhat of Extreme. This last until the middle where the songs bursts into a clear melodic hard rock anthem, then to exit as it started. It’s really quite good, especially the vocal harmonies.
Packed with strong melodies, really good harmony in the guitar lines & vocal arrangements and a kick ass groove in the rhythm section, Damn Dice has surprised me.
“The Great Unknown” will be ‘known’ soon by all hard rock fans out there, as it’s a really good debut by these London guys. Their mixture of heavy rock, hard rock and melody is thoroughly enjoyable and the band’s energy helps move everything along at a nice pace.
Hell of a job guys. Highly Recommended.
01 – Power
02 – What Now?
03 – Driven
04 – Down
05 – The Way To Go
06 – Caught In The Ride
07 – Words
08 – Bang Your Head
09 – No Fear
10 – Take The Fight
11 – Rock (Like You Mean It)
12 – Home
Alex: Lead Vocals
Wallis: Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals
Diego: Rythm Guitar, Backing Vocals
Marco: Bass, Backing Vocals
Fransoa: Drums, Backing Vocals
BUY IT !
damndice.bigcartel.com/product/the-great-unknown-album
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